Child porn: Teachers David Denis and Emma Stretton struck off

A married couple who had pornographic images of young children on their home computer have been struck off the teaching register.

David Denis and Emma Stretton were caught after an Interpol investigation.

The couple taught in separate schools in south Wales.

The images were downloaded from a German website and there is no suggestion any of them involved children at schools where they worked.

A two-day hearing of the General Teaching Council for Wales found most charges proven against the couple.

A teaching disciplinary hearing was told 103 photographs of young girls were found on the computer at the couple's home.

It was alleged that Mr Denis viewed the images in the early hours of the morning while his wife "turned a blind eye".

Her persistent failure to recognise her husband's involvement in the face of the evidence undermines public trust and confidence in the teaching professionPeter Williams, General Teaching Council for Wales

Mr Denis was handed a prohibition order by the teaching council's conduct and competence committee striking him off the teaching register indefinitely.

His wife was given a suspension order by the committee which means she is removed from the register for 12 months.

She was also ordered to undertake a training development programme, at her own expense, focusing on child protection and acceptable use of the internet.

The hearing was told that after a police investigation no charges were brought against the couple because it was not be known for certain who had accessed the material.

Council member Peter Williams said: "We are persuaded that Mr Denis used the computer to access the website concerned and images were downloaded over multiple sessions.

'Innocent'

"Although Mrs Stretton was not personally responsible she failed to recognise or act upon the likelihood that her husband had done so.

"She persists in her view that she and her husband are victims and her husband is innocent.

"Her persistent failure to recognise her husband's involvement in the face of the evidence undermines public trust and confidence in the teaching profession."

The couple did not attend the two-day hearing in Cardiff, and were not represented.